You haven't heard THIS 'Star-Spangled Banner'

If you think the nation’s anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” is out of date or out of touch, maybe it’s because you recall your high-school pep band’s slightly out-of-tune, arrhythmic version. Or one of those celebrity performances.

It’s not the first time the popular band has moved beyond key signatures and refrains to social commentary, with titles such as “Right to Bear,” “Honk if You Want Peace” and “Hallowed Ground.”

The members make a point of saying, “This band is on a mission to not only make great music, but also send a message that American culture is alive and well.”

Band manager Richard Mgrdechian confirmed: “We hit our goal of one million views on the video on the morning of September 14th – the exact date Francis Scott Key wrote the original version 198 years ago.

“There’s something bigger at work here, and we plan to do everything we can to take advantage of this serendipitous circumstance to continue to re-energize our national anthem and make it the No. 1 best selling rock song in the country.”

It recently has appeared in Orlando, Los Angeles, Orange County, New York and Clovis, N.M. Coming gigs are in Washington; Lancaster, Pa.; Harrisburg, Pa.; numerous Texas locations; and several places in Michigan and North Carolina.

This summer, the band will perform at the famed Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, S.D., which annually attracts hundreds of thousands of riders.

Band members explain their aim to promote “liberty, independence, smaller government and personal responsibility.”